


Colder Days

by MeloLuvBebe



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Batmfamily, batfam
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-15
Updated: 2020-10-15
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:20:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,237
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27020401
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MeloLuvBebe/pseuds/MeloLuvBebe
Summary: Jason Todd has a bad night.
Relationships: Jason Todd & Damian Wayne
Comments: 1
Kudos: 110





	Colder Days

Jason loved Gotham, in his own way, and how could he not when he spent the majority of his best years looking out for her? But there were moments, scarce and far apart though they were, when he couldn’t help but hate his city. Particularly on nights like this.

Winter hadn’t quite settled in on the land but that meant very little when Gotham was surrounded by water on all sides, all year long. So yes, Gotham was cold, but some nights the cold became something else. Something deeper than bone. Something that settled into his soul and left him feeling like his blood had congealed in his veins. He was always sluggish for days after these nights.

“Fuck this,” no one was around to glance at him with unspoken reprimands, which should have been a relief but somehow just made him colder. He looked down at his aching hands that were encased in gloves that did nothing to keep out the chill and pondered. Maybe he should get some new ones. But the ones he had on now were still fairly new and pricey and he didn’t have that kind of spending money. He could ask Bruce but… no that wasn’t an option, he didn’t know why he had even thought of that in the first place. “I’m going home,” it took him a second to calibrate where home was from his current location but he started on his way soon enough.

Jason was running along a rooftop in decidedly the opposite direction of where Wayne Manor stood when he let his mind wander. He had never been a fan of the cold, no Gothamite really was, but he noticed that after his brief stint as a horror movie prop he was more sensitive to it than he had ever been. 

He remembered then, how much he used to like the cold, if only because they gave a younger version of himself an excuse to huddle close to a father he didn’t think existed anymore. Those were memories that he held on to viciously but never allowed to come to the surface unless he was sure no one else was around. The sudden resurgence of them was so startling he found himself stumbling in what had been a smooth climb down a fire escape. The concrete he became acquainted with didn’t seem to return his affections as it left him with a throbbing nose and the beginnings of bruised ribs. 

After a few minutes of self pity he managed to scrape himself off the grime filled ground and began hobbling the last few blocks to his apartment. Right now the only thing that differentiated him from anyone else who walked these streets this late at night was his bright red helmet. Jason really, _really _, hated nights like this. And everything they came with.__

__The window to his apartment, because he was sure the only person who used the door was Duke and the kid’s weird habits weren’t something he needed to spend his time thinking about right now, was as locked as he had left it earlier that night and he made quick work of picking it. All Jason wanted right now was a cup of warm milk and a warm bed. But his shopping list contained the milk that was missing from his fridge and his thick duvet was currently stuffed into a washing machine. So he got a glass of tap water and settled down into thin bed sheets after putting the aforementioned duvet into the dryer._ _

__The next morning and the bathroom mirror was greeted with the sight of Jason in a sorry state. Luckily it had been years since he had learned his way around concealer and foundation to hide dark circles and bruises. He tried not to think of how depressing that might sound to others as he applied a healthy layer of foundation to his face and neck, making sure to blend it into his ears so he wouldn’t look like an idiot. A quick spritz of some kind of liquid that the lady at the store assured him would make the makeup last longer and Jason was ready for the day._ _

__He looked ready, at least. In reality he could feel every one of his bones scraping together and if he could hear them they’d probably be making a cacophony of screams like they wanted out of his body. And he wouldn’t blame them. His body was pretty fucked._ _

__Jason walked out of the bathroom and into the kitchen but a quick tour of the room revealed that no food had magically appeared in his cupboard or fridge and he’d have to go out for groceries today._ _

__He was about to grab his keys when he noticed a lump on his couch, a very colorful lump. A closer look revealed a boy covered mostly in black with brightly colored accents. Damian was in his home, he probably left the window unlocked last night though now that he thought about it he doubted locking it would have kept his intruder out anyway. He placed a hand on Damian’s shoulder, gently so as not to startle him but firmly enough to wake him up, the kid was a fairly light sleeper._ _

__Damian started nonetheless, springing off the couch like a coil, a really deadly coil with crazy knife skills. “What are you doing here?” Jason was pretty confused, the others only came around these parts unannounced when they needed his help with something urgent. Otherwise he has a strict Call Before Entering policy in place. His apartment was usually rigged to hell and back with some pretty messed up traps to keep his dumbass siblings from getting in._ _

__The younger of the two swiftly looked to become something akin to nervous as his limbs dropped stiffly at his sides and his fingers twitched until he clenched them into fists, “There was an exchange of words last night between father and myself. Many of them were… unpleasant and I didn’t feel.. I thought it best to look for alternative lodgings for the night.”_ _

__Jason stifled a sigh of sympathy, no doubt the kid would misunderstand him and think he was annoyed, sometimes he was a little too much like his dad to stand. But that wasn’t the case right now. Right now he had to deal with the aftermath of what was most likely Bruce deciding his polyweave carbon-whatever-the-fuck boots would make a great meal and then stuffing the entirety of his foot into his own mouth._ _

__Instead of asking for details he pointed towards the hallway behind him with his thumb, “I’ve got some spare clothes that are about your size in the hall closet. Grab something and get dressed quickly, we’re going shopping.”_ _

__Damian’s nose crinkled in faint disgust, “I don’t-“_ _

__“Yeah, yeah, you’re a little rich prince,” Jason waved off his complaints without a thought, “but I need food and you need to learn how to survive without servants.”_ _

__Now Damian looks properly peeved, “Alfred isn’t a servant, Todd! He is a member of our-“_ _

__Jason smirked down at him as he trailed off. The smirk morphed into a grin as Damian’s face went bright red and he stormed off to the hall closet to pick out some clothes, grumbling the entire way about manipulating dunderheads._ _

__Okay, so last night was shitty, but maybe today wouldn’t be as bad._ _


End file.
